The Adventuring Party, part 3: The Cave of Darkness

The tall, golden grass was waving gently in the wind on a bright, summer day. The few trees in the area were still a full green color, though past the fruiting phase of the year already. Some birds flittered among those trees, setting up a nest and sharing some juicy beetle one had found in the grass below. The tranquility of the scene, however, was shattered when a group of four individuals came tearing through the grass as fast as they could.

“I can’t believe that you took those gems from their scared statue, Dash!” one of them was yelling. She was taller than most of them, with short blond hair and long, pointed ears and was wearing a bright yellow robe with red trim.

“Listen, Sharai,” said the shortest one, who had a shock of green hair on his head and a large, bulbous nose, “how was I supposed to know the primitives would freak out about loosing the damn things?”

“It was their SACRED statue!” Sharai shouted, sounding slightly hysterical.

“Bah!” cried a third member of the band. it was the second shortest in the group, though far larger than Dash in girth. It appeared female in shape, but had facial hair that was kept neatly trimmed to the jaw line. A symbol of silver hung from her neck, depicting an anvil with three hammers on it. “They were pagans anyway, worshiping the spirits of their ancestors.”

“Not helping any, Nor,” Sharai said in a slightly less hysterical yell.

“Enough!” came a cry from the last member of the group. He was tall, taller even than Sharai, and muscular, with heavy armor and a shield. In the running, he was taking up the rear, and if the heavy, labored breathing was any indication, the armor wasn’t helping that position any.

“They’re catching up to us,” he continued. “Less fighting, more running.”

Sharai turned around and saw that the warrior was correct. A large mob of people with primitive, but no less deadly, spears were gaining, and more importantly, getting close enough to throw those spears.

“Del’s right,” she said, putting more effort into running, “we’ve got to keep running!”

“I hear the river up ahead,” said Dash, his keen ears picking up the sound of rushing water before anyone else.

Dash put on an extra bit of speed, not waiting for anyone else, and raced towards the river. The tall grass seemed to end suddenly, and the gnome found himself facing what appeared to be a cut in the land itself, as if someone had gouged out a strip of earth with a mighty sword. Below him about thirty feet was the rushing currents of the river. It was there that he also saw the small river boat, anchored to the cliff face; its crew lounging on its deck.

“They’re here,” he said. Then, without further notice he jumped.

Shari came to the river next. She looked down and saw that Dash had employed the magical ring he found in a previous adventure. She watched for a second as her companion slowly floated down towards the boat as if he were a feather. He mouth twisted in frustration, sure that he was just showing off, but then she let it go. Dash would be able to get the crew in order and ready to leave as soon as everyone else was down there. And he had also given her an idea on how, exactly, to get to the boat.

“Come on, everyone,” she said, waving them all on. “I’ve got an idea.”

The dwarf and the human came up to her a few seconds later. Del looked back over his shoulder, noting that the mob of angry, spear-wielding natives was getting uncomfortably closer. He and Nor looked expectantly at Shari. She rubbed her gently curving, pointed elven ears in nervousness for a second then nodded her head. With no explanation, she shoved her two companions over the edge of the cliff, a feat only accomplished by the fact that they were not expecting it.

She ignored their screams as she looked over her shoulder behind her. She was reaching into one of the many pouches that hung from her belt, searching for something. When her fingers ran across the soft, light object, she smiled and jumped. She twisted her body so that it was a straight line, parallel to the cliff, and caught up to her companions quickly. They were still screaming, and she wasn’t even sure they noticed her there. She put such thoughts from her mind and quickly set about her work.

She pulled the feather she had felt earlier form her pouch and held it to her forehead and muttered a few arcane words of power. A second later, the feather glowed a rich golden color. She quickly reached out and touched both Del and Nor with the feather before touching herself. The effects were instantaneous, as the sudden fall turned into a gentle downward motion that was achieved by a soft swing back and forth. A few moments later, they were landing on the boat. As expected, Dash had the small crew in action, and all was ready.

“Just in time,” Dash said, pointing up. Sharai looked in time to see the hundreds of natives line up on the cliff face above her. They didn’t even pause before throwing their long spears down at the boat.

“Weigh anchor! Everyone take cover!” cried the boat captain.

The spears rained down on the boat, but thankfully, throwing down is not the strong suit of the natives. Most of the spears bounced off cliff face opposite the boat as they over threw, and some stuck harmlessly into the boat’s deck. Two, however, struck home. One hit a crew man, and though it didn’t kill him outright, it did cause him to fall over board. No one was quite sure if he survived or not, but most hoped it didn’t. The natives were not known for being kind to prisoners.

The other spear struck Nor in the arm, pinning it to the railing she was holding onto for support as the boat got moving. The dwarf didn’t even let out a scream, however, holding her ground until the boat was well away from the range of the deadly spears. Then, she let loose with the cry of pain she had been holding in.

“Oh, my Gods, Nor!” Del cried, rushing to her side. Sharai wasn’t surprised it was Del that got to her first. He’d known Nor his whole life. She was friends with his family from her days as a young miner, before she became an adult and decided to enter the priesthood. The truth was that, young as she was for a dwarf, Nor was the oldest member of the party, and everyone tended to look to her for wisdom, forgetting that she was just as young as they were, at least emotionally.

Del didn’t wait for Nor’s permission, and put two large hands on the shaft of the spear. He yanked hard, and the spear, bronze spear head and all, came out of the wood of the railing and Nor’s arm, and flew from Del’s hands into the river.

“Can you heal it yourself?” Del asked. Nor only nodded.

Shari watched in wonder as the priestess grasped the talisman she wore around her neck, the symbol of the dwarven Gods, known as the Three Brothers, and placed it over the gaping wound in her arm. She muttered a prayer through gritted teeth, and a blue glow emanated from the symbol. She continued to mutter the prayer as the flesh beneath the symbol was also covered in a blue glow, one so bright that Shari couldn’t bare to look at it for a few seconds. A moment later, the glow stopped, and when Nor removed the symbol, only a minor wound that was already beginning to scar over, remained. Despite that Nor would complain at not being strong enough to channel the divine energy needed to fully heal her arm, Sharai was amazed, as always at watching Nor work her particular form of magic.

Shari pulled off her backpack and reached into it, feeling the comforting presence of the hard, cold leather cover of her precious book of magic. Arcane magic, that is, the kind practiced by wizards and sorcerers. This she knew and understood. Formula, rote, chants and hand movements. There was a certain art to it, yes, but it was the same art that a mathematician found in solving a particularly difficult equation. It all followed rules and made sense. But divine magic… that baffled Shari. It was all based on faith, in some mystical deity that almost never responded directly to the priests who performed miracles in their names. Oh, sure, Shari believed in and prayed to Primor, the God of Magic, who is also said to be the one that created the River, a metaphor used to describe how the arcane energy wizards draw upon work. But, beyond that, Primor is never directly involved in her spells. Shari shook her head. There were other, pressing matters to get to.
She reached into her backpack again, and pulled out an object of power. It was cylindrical, and about eighteen inches long, but only about half an inch thick, and made of wood. At the top of the scepter was a spear head made of solid ruby. It was a single piece, that didn’t appear to have been cut or chipped into shape, but was, instead, a smooth, solid shape. It was also decorated with feathers and beads, though Sharai knew that just the scepter and spearhead held the magic.

“At least we got what we came for before Dash decided to increase our wealth,” she said. Everyone turned to look at their prize.

“All right, that’s two down,” Dash said, “and two more to go, according to your book.”

Shari nodded. The other week they had retrieved a golden necklace with a jade coin attached to it. Like the spear head, it was flawless and appeared to have been cast rather than cut form stone.

“The next one,” she said, opening her book and turning to a marked page, “is only a few days from here, in a place called the Cave of Darkness.” She briefly mused to her self that these places of power often had silly sounding names like that.

“Wait,” Dash said. “You’re not suggesting that we skip returning to the city and continue our artifact hunt, are you?”

Shari only nodded. This had already been decided, and Dash was just putting on a show for the sake of arguing. Sometimes, she thought he wasn’t happy unless he was arguing. She just ignored him, which resulted in his attitude ending rather quickly. Nor threatened to hit him over the head with her hammer. Del, on the other hand, always rose to Dash’ bait.

“We’ve already talked about this Dash,” the human warrior said. Shari looked at Nor, and the two only shook their heads. Shari wondered if it was particular to gnomes and humans, or if it was just relegated to men.

Despite Dash’s near constant grumbling about not getting to spend his loot in town, a few days later found them in a dead forest, looking at a intricately carved round stone blocking a large cave entrance cut into the side of a hill. Both Shari and Nor were studying the runes on the stone and discovered that it was a strange combination of arcane sigils and priestly rituals. Finally, Shari deciphered that both were needed to move the stone and gain entrance to the cave beyond. It was a simple ceremony that took about fifteen minutes to complete. After they were done, the stone simply rolled aside to the right. No flashing lights, no mystical sounds. Sharai was rather relieved.

Inside the cave was so dark that it appeared as if they were looking at a wall of blackness. Shari spoke a word, and the gem on the end of her staff began glowing a bright, but soft, blue. She pointed it into the cave, and the darkness receded, as if it were afraid of the touch of the blue light. Now, the boys went to work. Del and Dash took positions, Del slightly behind Dash. Both had their weapons drawn, and kept their eyes peeled. Del was looking up and around, ready for an ambush by monsters of other attackers. Dash kept his eyes on the ground and walls, looking for traps. Shari came behind them, lighting the way with her staff. Nor took up the final position in line, watching for attack from behind.

“What are we looking for here again?” Dash asked during a pause in the march as he disarmed a simple tripwire. Likely, it was designed to spring another trap, like a pit or a falling rock from the ceiling. When Dash was finished, it wouldn’t spring anything ever again.

“According to the book,” Shari answered, “the next item we need for this ritual is a key.”

“That’s it, a key?” Dash replied. He was always grumpy when the goal wasn’t treasure.

“Yup,” Shari replied. “A key made out of the rib bone of an extremely ancient and powerful red dragon known as Mystoph. ‘’

“Okay,” Dash replied, ready to move on further into the cave, “so it’s a fancy key carved from dragon bone. So?”

“The book describes the key’s manufacture,” Shari interrupted. “It states that the wizard who forged it took the rib bone out of Mystoph while the dragon was still breathing.”

“So, he was a bad ass,” Dash said, unflappable as always. “What’s the key do?”

“I’m not really sure,” Shari said. “The book isn’t real clear about that. It says something about opening the doorway to the universe, but I have no idea what that really means. But, it’s part of the set of four, and after this one we just need one more.”

“Right,” Dash said. “And hopefully, there will be treasure other than this key…”

“Wait,” Del said, stopping suddenly. Instantly, everyone ceased marching and was looking ahead to see what Del saw. Shari’s sharp eyes needed less eyes than the others in her group, but even she had trouble spotting what ever it was that set Del’s instincts on edge. Then, she spotted it. It was on the wall of the intersection up ahead. A slight movement. At first, she thought something was crawling up the wall, but then she realized that it was the wall itself.

“What is it?” she whispered. “Another trap?”

“I don’t think so,” Del said. “Stay here, I’m going to check it out.”

Del moved forward while everyone else stayed back, weapons at the ready for anything that might happen. What happened, however, didn’t fall into Shari’s definition of ‘anything.’ The thing on the wall started speaking, and it was then that Shari noticed it was in the shape of a pair of lips. A mouth, carved into the wall, speaking.

“Halt!” the wall mouth cried. “Go no further upon pain of death, for ahead lies the tomb of the Great Eversham, wizard and dragon slayer. If you do insist on forging ahead, then you must first answer me this riddle.”

Wow, this Eversham was arrogant, thought Shari. The voice was continuing.

“Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me when I am flown. Answer, or perish.”

“Answer or perish?” Dash asked, but Shari quickly shushed him. Only the answer to the riddle cold be given now. Anything else would result in setting off whatever magical trap this mouth was designed to spring. Thankfully, this was one riddle she knew the answer to. Not only was it a popular one from her youth in the elvin cities, but it was also written into the book that lead them here in the first place. The wizard that wrote that book must have heard this riddle before, or put the answer into here as a note for himself. Unless the still unknown author was this Eversham. She doubted that.

She walked up to the mouth and in a clear voice stated, “Time.”

A few seconds passed, and nothing seemed to happen. Then, the mouth spoke once more.

“Time, indeed, is the answer. May your time here bring you back to the surface alive.”

Then, the ‘T’ intersection they were in changed. The left hand passage disappeared, replaced by a rough cave wall, just like the rest of the cave. The mouth and the wall it was on also disappeared, revealing another passageway. The path to the right stayed where it was. Shari pointed down the new passageway with her staff.

“This way, guys,” she said.

“But, what about this way?” Dash said, pointing to the right.

“That way leads to certain doom,” Del replied.

Everyone looked at the muscular human. He shrugged.

“I’m guessing,” he said. “Based on what the mouth said. We answered the riddle, what we’re looking for must be down the new path.”

Shari smiled and nodded. Everyone got back into marching order and slowly made their way down the new passage. It was long, longer than anything tunnel they had been down in the cave before, and it was also smooth, constructed with stones rather than just the rock and dirt of the rest of the cave. Nor was running her hands along the surface.

“Smooth as a baby’s bottom,” she said. “Fine construction, this wall, and no doubt very expensive. Either this Eversham was a better wizard than any I’ve ever heard of, or he was wealthy.”

“I’m going to go with wealthy,” came Dash’s immediate reply.

No one else said anything, and they marched down the corridor in silence. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was no doubt only minutes, they reached the end of the corridor. Shari was surprised. She had expected to find the corridor branched off or turned or something, but instead, it just ended, in a door. A simple, wooden door, on top of that. Not nearly as nicely constructed as the walls around them.

“Everyone stand back,” Dash said. “There is obviously something wrong with this, I’ll check it out.”

No one argued. They all knew he was right, and let the gnome go about his work. Dash examined the door, the floor, the wall around the door, the door hinges, even the ceiling as best he could. He kept shaking his head. Then, he examined things more thoroughly. He looked over the door handle, and the space in between the door and the floor. Finally, in examining the stones that made up the wall the door was on, he found something. A loose stone near the floor, though until he wiggled it, you would never know. Finley constructed is an understatement, Shari thought.

Dash spent several more moments examining the stone and the surrounding walls. Finally, he stood up and smiled. Shari wondered what it was that he saw. She never ceased being amazed by the talents of her companions. When she first joined them, she thought that none of them could do what she could with magic, that she didn’t need them. But now, she sees, she does need them, because they can all do things she could never do without magic, no matter how powerful she became. It was humbling, and in the end, she decided that it made her a better wizard.

Dash pushed the stone with his foot, hard, and it receded into the wall. Before their eyes, the wall did much the same, receding back and then moving to the left, revealing a doorway to a room beyond. Dash turned to look at the rest of the party with a self satisfied grin on his face, and then returned to the secret door. Del was right behind him. Before either of them stepped into the room, however, a voice was heard. It was the same voice as the magical mouth.

“My, my, aren’t you the smart ones,” the voice said. Shari looked and saw a smaller version of the mouth just to the left of the secret door. She pointed towards it with her staff.

“Congratulations, you’ve found my secret chamber,” the voice continued. “Now, all you have to do to get my treasure, is defeat the guardian monsters inside. Are you up to that challenge? I hope so, because HERE THEY COME!”

That last was at a shout, loud enough to echo into the chamber beyond the secret door. Shari gritted her teeth. That was done on purpose, to either awaken or alert whatever lie beyond this door. Her sharp ears could hear something moving in the darkness, slithering and hissing. Whatever it was, there was more than one, and they were big.

“Everyone get in the room, quick,” Del commanded, striding forward to stand center of the door, a few feet in. He presented a great target, which was his goal, hoping to draw the creatures, whatever they were, to him, and protect the other members of the party. The other’s fanned out, Nor and Shari to Del’s left and Dash to Del’s right. That was all they had time for before the creatures attacked.

They were long, sinewy and vaguely snake like. They had several short legs, however, that moved at rapid speeds, propelling the monsters across the rubble strewn floor with ease. This put the party at an instant disadvantage, as they would be slowed by the piles of rubble. There were five of them, and three instantly headed towards Del.

He raised his shield just in time to block a bite by one, its long jaw filled with sharp teeth unable to get a solid bite around the round piece of steel. Another one, however, got a good grip with it’s jaw on Del’s metal clad leg. The warrior grunted, but it was obvious that the bit didn’t pierce the armor. The third held back, circling, looking for an opening.

The other two started moving towards Dash, but Nor moved quickly to intercept one. She smashed it on the nose with her hammer, eliciting a little yelp and resulting in a few of the sharp teeth falling to the floor. Dash was equally ready for the creature that was on him, jumping up and over it as it charged. In the air, Dash lowered his short sword and sliced across the creature’s back. It wasn’t a deep cut, but it was enough to draw a line of blood and cause it to hiss in pain.

Shari went into action. She saw that Del had moved the three creatures into a triangular position, including the one still attached to his leg by extending it into the triangle. She pointed her staff at the area between them, and muttered a word. A burst of flame sprung up from the very air in the center of the triangle, then burst out in a ball that engulfed the three of them as well as partially covering Del. He, however, had his head turned and his shield raised. While he felt the heat from the fire, he was better prepared for it than the crocodile-snakes were.

The one that had Del’s leg let go and shook his head. The creature that had attacked his shield lay curled into a ball, dead. The third one turned to look back at Sharai, and hissed. She wasn’t sure how it had managed to figure out the ball of fire came from her, but it was obviously angry and looking for some revenge. It made a move to charge at her, but Del extended himself and stabbed it with his sword. It was enough to grab the creature’s attention, and it attached him, biting his arm before being shook off. Del grunted. It was the worst sound he would make during the whole of combat, no matter how bad the would really was. Nor hated that he wouldn’t cry out or let her know when he needed healing.

The other creature attacked his leg again, getting that same grip back. It became obvious to Shari that she wasn’t going to be able to get more than one at a time from now on, which narrowed her spell inventory considerably. Meanwhile, Nor smashed her hammer into the side of her croco-snake, as Shari was starting to think of the creatures. More teeth went flying, and the eyes of the beast momentarily shifted to look in different directions. A follow up blow in the opposition direction before the beast got it’s footing back finished it off. Nor smiled a vicious grin, and turned to aid Dash.

Dash had been doing fine on his own, getting in stab and cut after stab and cut, but he just couldn’t get through the defenses of the croco-snake to do any real damage. When Nor got behind the beast, however, she provided all the distraction he needed. The beast turned to look at Nor long enough for Dash to step up past the claws and plunged his sword into the monster’s neck hilt deep. The creature flung itself back in dash’s direction, howling in pain and searching for the source of that pain.

Now it was Nor’s chance to take advantage of fighting with two people. She started to swing her hammer at the creature’s head, hoping to deliver the killing blow. Unfortunately, the wild trashing of the beast resulted in it’s long, and very strong tail, smashing into her and knocking her down to the ground. Dash, on the other had, managed to get in another stab with his short sword, and punctured the creature’s mouth. It was enough to instantly stop the thrashing, and the body fell to the ground, dead.

Del, meanwhile, continued to fight the two remaining croco-snakes. The one on his leg was making considerable progress against the armor, and Shari could see blood seeping through the spaces between the metal plates. Del was focusing his attacks against that one, and trying his best to use his defenses against the other, but wasn’t as successful as he had hoped. The final beast had managed to sneak past Del’s shield several times and get in some good shots with its long tongue. From the way Del slowed down after each hit, Shari guessed that the tongue held a venom of some sort.

Shari took aim with her staff, spoke a word, and blasted a ball of blue energy at the still free croco-snake. It hit, and caused a hiss of pain, but otherwise didn’t see to have any major effect on the monster. Meanwhile, it continued to put pressure on Del. It apparently decided that enough was enough, spun around quickly and whipped out its tail, hitting Del square in the legs and knocking him over. The one on his leg took advantage and sprung up on top of Del, trying to find a place that wasn’t metal to bite.

The big one that had just knocked him down, however, immediately turned and charged Shari. It was on her before she realized it and clamped its jaw down on her arm. She screamed in pain, and closed her eyes to the fight. She put her staff to the monster’s head and spoke her magic word. Electricity coursed through its body, and it released its grip, limping away. Shari opened her eyes In time to see that the creature didn’t get far before Nor arrived and took it out with a solid blow to the head that crushed in its skull. She looked over to Del to see that he was standing again, and that both he and Dash had their blades sunk deep into the remaining beast. The battle was over.

After some rounds of administration by Nor, everyone was healed and mostly back to normal, though Del still had a slight limp. Nor assured him it would go away in a few days. Now came the important part, thought Shrai. The looking for treasure, specifically the bone key the book said was here. It didn’t take tem long before they found a single, great treasure chest. It was a good two foot on a side, and Shari hoped it wasn’t loaded to the top with stuff. Dash would want to carry it home somehow, and it would likely be up to her to find a magical means of doing so.

Dash examined the box closely, and eventually pointed Shari to a particular mark on the front, just above the large and rather obvious key hole. Shari examined it as well, and nodded. It was a mark that would no doubt blast anyone attempting to open the box. However, she was surprised to find that it was a ward relatively easy to avoid. One just needed to use the correct key hole to open the chest. She told Dash this, and he returned to the rear of the box. A few seconds later, and there was a click. The box was opened. Before they could do so, however, another magical mouth appeared, this time on the box itself.

“Congratulations,” it said. “To have made it this far, you had to have recovered my spell book, the Spear of Yu, and then made it here. You’ve been very clever to have passed my guardian pets and the trap set upon this box. But you didn’t get through everything I had here.”

The mouth said a word, one that Shari didn’t recognize but she knew was arcane. Just then, the ground trembled, and everyone was thrown to the floor. Loud rumbling noises were all that any of them could hear for several minutes, and dust and rocks came down from the ceiling. A few minutes later, when the dust settled, the group took stock and found that everyone was dusty, but okay. The mouth on the chest was still talking.

“Know this, interlopers,” it said. “I separated all these items for a reason. The ceremony described in my book must never be allowed to come to pass. And so to prevent this and to stop you from getting my last relic, I have caused all the tunnels in this cave to collapse. You are all trapped in this room, with your treasure. I hope you enjoy it.”

With that, the mouth disappeared, and everyone looked at each other. How in the Nine Hells were they supposed to dig their way out of potentially miles of rock?

“We’re in some real trouble now,” Del said.

To be continued…

The Adventuring Party, part 2: The Wizard’s Tower

“Are you sure this map is legit?” the tall human in the heavy armor asked.

“Yeah, Del. I’m sure,” the gnome said with annoyance in his voice. He held the map in front of him, comparing it with his surroundings. The forest was thicker here than it was on the map. Maybe it was just an old map?

“Tell me again how you got it, Dash?” Del said.

Dash sighed. He had explained this to the human several times already.

“I told you, I got it from an old man in the tavern.”

“In black robes with his hood pulled over his head,” Del said.

“Yes,” the gnome replied.

“And he wants us to do what, again?” Del asked.

“Look, Del,” Dash said, turning to the human. “It’s pretty simple. He wants us to go to this abandoned wizard’s tower and retrieve the wizard’s spell book from it. He said the tower used to be his master’s tower one hundred years ago, but that it was destroyed by a magical experiment gone awry. He had been traveling and only just heard the news. He’s paying us four hundred gold to go and get this spell book, and any other loot down there, he says we get to keep.”

“And you trust this old man,” Del asked.

“Trust?” Dash said, throwing his arms up in exasperation. “Four hundred gold, Del! What in the nine hells does trust have to do with anything?”

“I just have a bad feeling about this,” the warrior said.

“You have a bad feeling about all our quests,” Dash replied. “Not that any of them have been very exciting. Finding lost library books and guarding caravans down a well traveled road for a few copper isn’t my idea of adventuring.”

Del started to open his mouth to protest, but Nor, the dwarf priestess, stepped between the two.

“Dash is correct, my friend,” she said, resting a hand on Del’s arm. “We have all craved more adventure than we’ve experienced so far. The rats when we first arrived in Oak Hollow were the most excitement we’ve seen so far, and the money we got from that is almost gone. Let your fears go for now, we can discuss them fully when we return to town.”

Del looked from Dash to Nor, and then over to Sharai, the only member of the party to not participate in the discussion. She only shrugged, neutral as always when these kinds of discussions came up. Del sighed, though. He knew that Sharai wanted to get into that wizard’s tower, too. Being a mage, there was no doubt all kinds of things she could find in there to aid in her studies. Finally, he nodded.

“You’re right,” he said to Nor. “I’m sorry, Dash, I won’t ask again. Let’s get to this tower and get that spell book.”

“Now you’re talking,” Dash said. He returned to the map, turning his head sideways and looking at the area around him again. Wasn’t there supposed to be a river here?

Del walked up behind him, looked at the map, looked around them, then turned the map ninety degrees sideways. He then pointed at an area of the map that showed a forested hill, and pointed to an actual forested hill to their right.

“Ah,” Dash said. “That would explain why there was no river here. Well, we’re still headed in the right direction. This way!”

****************************************************

A few hours later, they were stopping for lunch. They had been marching for the whole morning, and everyone was tired and hungry. Nor had a small fire going in a few moments, and Del returned with two rabbits. The two of them had the animals cooked quickly, and everyone ate their fill.

“Okay,” Dash said, looking over the map once more. “I think we’re close. It should be just over the next hill or two.”

“Really?” Sharai asked. “Shouldn’t we be able to see it by now then? I mean, it is a wizard’s tower.”

Dash looked up and then around, as if expecting to see a tower suddenly sticking up over the horizon.

“I don’t know,” he said at last. “Maybe when the guy who hired us said ‘destroyed’ he really meant it.”

“If that’s the case,” Nor said, “then exactly how are we going to explore the tower? If it’s gone, destroyed, then there’s nothing to explore.”

“Basement,” Del said around a mouthful of rabbit. Everyone stopped and looked at him. He stopped chewing and stared back. “What? Lots of castles have dungeons and below ground storage rooms. It seems to me that a wizard would be a fool not to as well. Besides, maybe magical experiments are safer underground, where they can’t destroy your tower.”

“That’s actually pretty insightful,” Sharai said. “You know, now that you mention it, my master had a secret lab he used. We always assumed it was in the upper parts of the tower, that we couldn’t’ get to. But now that you say it, we did have underground storage, and he did go down there a lot.”

Everyone nodded and agreed that this must be the case. Excited, lunch ended quickly and the party was once again on the move. As promised, the tower remains proved to be right over the next hill. There really wasn’t much left of it. Lots of stone and brick were scattered about the place, many of them black as if they had been burned. Almost the entire first floor remained intact, but there were only a few wall struts to indicate that the structure went up further than that. What was left of the first floor was accessible by a large hole.

“Okay, I’ll go in first,” Del said, drawing his sword and readying his shield. “Dash, behind me, Nor, you’re in the rear. Everyone be ready.”

With practiced ease, the group arranged themselves in a single file, and entered the structure. The wooden floor creaked as Del set his weight upon it, and he could swear that the walls groaned. He said a silent prayer that the remains were still sound enough to stay standing while they explored.

The first thing that Del noticed upon entering was that it was cold. Cold and damp. This disturbed him because it hasn’t rained for a month outside. This place should be bone dry.

“Lingering magical effect,” Sharai said as soon as she entered. “Ignore it, its just part of the damage that was done to this place.”

Del nodded and continued moving in. He went through what was once obviously a door, though now it was nothing more than splinters hanging off a single hinge. Something moved out of the corner of his eye, and he jerked his head trying to track it. He raised his sword arm up, and waved one finger off the hilt. This was a signal the party had worked out during training to indicate that they were not alone.

Slowly, Del made his way down the ruined hallway, towards where he saw the movement. There was enough damage to the surrounding walls that the interior was well light by the sun, making it easy for his human eyes to search the place. He saw the movement again, followed quickly by a flash of silver that flew by his head. A scream followed. He moved to trace the path of the silver flash, and saw a small, gray skinned humanoid with crooked, pointed ears, yellow eyes that were a third the size of the rest of his head, and a crooked mouth filled with sharp teeth. It was laying on the ground, tugging at a dagger that had landed in his shoulder.

“Goblin,” he said, lowering the point of his sword at the creature’s throat. This caused it to stop all motion. “You got him, Dash.”

“Excellent,” the gnome said coming up next to Dash to view the creature. “I’ll ask it what it knows.”

The gnome cleared his throat, and then uttered something guttural that made it sound as if he were trying to speak around a mouthful of rocks. The creatures large eyes moved from Dash to the sword at its throat and back again. It didn’t speak back, however. Dash growled a few more commands, but the creature refused to play along. Finally, Dash said something that seemed to catch its attention. It narrowed its eyes, and actually spit on the sword. Del started to move the sword, so as to break skin without killing the creature, but it moved first.

It was faster than Del had expected, swatting aside the sword with its thin but muscular arm, and then quickly scrambling to its feet. It yanked the dagger out of its shoulder and threw it straight at Del, who barely had time to raise his shield to block it. Dash let loose with another dagger, but the lithe creature was ready for it this time, and managed to doge it.

Thankfully, the two boys were not alone in this fight. And the girls had magic to aid them. Nor said a quick prayer to the Three Brothers and then pointed her hammer at the creature. A bolt of lightning arced from the hammer to the goblin, causing the creature to cry out in pain again. It quickly ducked around a corner, and Del saw that it drew the small blade that was at its side. Before he could go charging off after it, though, Sharai touched his sword with her finger, tracing a symbol on it. It glowed briefly, and she nodded at him.

He raced around the corner after the goblin, only to find it laying in wait. It stabbed him right in the leg, cleanly slicing through the tough leather that protected then and entering his thigh a few inches. Del cut back a cry of pain and jabbed his sword forward. He knew his wild stab was going to miss the dexterous monster, but the sword glowed again and he felt it pull his arm mid swing towards the goblin’s belly. It struck true, piercing the gray belly and felling the creature on the spot. It was good to have a wizard on your side.

Nor quickly came up to Del and yanked the jagged goblin sword from the warrior. This time, he did scream. The blood came out quickly, but Nor just ignored it. She said another prayer, and her hands glowed a light blue. Del felt warmth flow into his leg from her hands, and then watched as the wound closed, as if it had never been there. He’d been on the receiving end of Nor’s healing magic several times, but it sill never ceased to amaze him.

“There’ll be more of them,” Nor said when she had finished, jerking a thumb at the fallen goblin.

“How do you know?” Dash asked. “It could have just taken shelter in the ruins, to get out of the sun. Everyone knows that goblins hate the sunlight”

Nor nodded, then said, “Yes, but when was the last time you heard of anyone finding just one goblin.”

No one replied. Finally Del stood up, taking charge once more.

“Okay, so, more goblins,” he said. “Probably down in the storage basement. Its unlikely that they’ve discovered the hidden library, though. So, we continue to look for a way down, and be on the look out for gray figures hiding in the rubble.”

Everyone nodded, and the search through the tower continued. Eventually, it was Nor that found what they were looking for. A trap door in the floor. She had found it in what looked like the ruins of a kitchen by moving several rocks and a crushed kettle pot off of it. It didn’t look used, but Nor also pointed out that this was unlikely the only entrance to the basement. If it worked like other castles, there was an entrance outside as well, and the goblins could be using that one.

“In that case, we might have surprise on our side,” Del said. “If they’re guarding the entrance outside, that leaves this one ignored.”

“Do you think this one got off an alarm?” Dash asked. “It did scream a lot when it got stabbed.”

“Probably,” Del said. “But it won’t matter if we’re taking the back door.”

They all worked together to remove the remaining bits of debris off the door, the set about heaving it open. A blast of cold air caused them all to step back before peering into the room below. A wooden ladder could be seen, bolted to the floor from the other side. It stretched down about three feet before disappearing in darkness. Del turned to look at Sharai, but she was already whispering at her staff. A second later the tip ignited into a blue light. She held it over the door, allowing them to see the rest of the way down. It was about ten feet, and the room below looked to be a larder of some sort.

Dash climbed down the ladder first, to search for traps below. Nor and Sharai leaned over the door, ready to cast a spell at anything down there that might attack their friend. Dash made it down safely, then proceed to search the room. After a few moments, he declared it all clear. As everyone else climbed down, he went to the only door to listen. The room was as cold as that initial blast indicated.

“Another magical effect,” Sharai said, “probably designed for stored food.”

Del moved up behind Dash.

“Hear anything?” Del asked.

Dash simply waved him off and continued to listen. After a second more, he turned to the rest of the group.

“More goblins on the other side of this door,” he said. “from the sounds of it, there are for of them, and they’re playing dice. It seems our friend from upstairs didn’t get off any alarm.”

“Good,” Del said. “Let’s go kick some goblin ass.”

He boldly strode up to the wooden door, his sword and shield at the ready. He turned to the rest of the party, who all nodded that they were ready, then kicked in the door as hard as it could. The damage from upstairs apparently extended to below ground as well, for the door went flying off it’s hinges and across the room a good two feet, hitting a goblin and trapping the creature under it. Del took advantage of the surprise, and charged into the room, stabbing a second goblin through the heart.

The remaining two stood up quickly and drew their wicked short swords. Nor was in the room next, charging the closest goblin to her. She let out a fearsome dwarven battle cry, and swung her hammer at the monster. It blocked as best it could with its sword, but the blow was hard and forced him to take a step backwards. The fourth goblin charged Nor, trapping her between the two creatures, and stabbed her in the back.

Sharai then let loose with a magical bolt that struck the fourth goblin. It didn’t fell the monster, but it did cause him to move a step backwards, which was enough for Dash to move in. Back to back with Nor, Dash used his twin daggers to create a blur of steel in front of the goblin. It spent a lot of energy trying to dodge the whirling daggers that it never saw the actual attack come. Dash lunged here, feinted there, and finally, stabbed the monster in the thigh. Del came up behind it and stuck his sword through it’s back, finishing it.

Meanwhile, Nor had managed to get in a solid blow on the goblin she was fighting, crushing in it’s skull with a satisfying crunch sound. The four friends looked at each other and smiled in shared victory once they realized the fight was over. Nor was wounded, but it was a minor scratch, not even worth a healing spell.

“Let’s not get cocky,” Del said. “We had surprise on our side in that combat. If these goblins had been prepared, that fight would have been much harder.”

“Yes, teacher Del,” Dash said mockingly.

“I mean it, Dash,” Del said, though a smile crossed his face.

The four took stock of the room they were in. It was a large room, about forty feet on a side, and was obviously more storage, though it didn’t have the cold effect of the previous room. There were boxes and barrels, and a few held the remains of food or water, but there were also other supplies down here. Spices and herbs, ground bones, fine gold dust, liquid silver and all kinds of other odds and ends. Spell components, Sharai realized. These were used in recopies for creating new spells, or for complex ritual spells.

There two doors out of this room. One was at the top of a small flight of stairs, and most likely led outside. The other was a simple wooden door like the one they had come into. Even Sharai didn’t know why there could possibly be a third room down here. This time, it was Nor’s turn at the door. She walked up to it, put her hand on it, then slammed it open. It wasn’t as spectular as Del’s kick, but it did serve to startle the goblins on the other side of the door.

What was there, however, caused the whole party to hesitate. It was a group of about four goblins, but small and helpless looking. Babies. In front of them was a goblin woman, who turned at hissed at them, a dagger in her hand. From the look in her eyes, however, it was obvious she was terrified. Nor started to walk into the room, a viscious glint in her eyes.

“Nor!” Sharai cried, and the dwarf paused, though she never took her eyes off the goblin woman. “They’re babies, children. We can’t kill them.”

Nor growled, a low animal noise, that caused Sharai to gasp in surprise.

“These are goblins,” Nor said. “They are animals, who cannot be saved. They are a plague on the realm, and all must be destroyed.”

“But,” Sharai said, unable to let go of the situation. “Children?”

Nor turned back to glare at Sharai, and the elf saw such anger and pain in her friends eyes that she took a step backwards.

“Goblins destroyed my family home,” the dwarf said, “slaughtered my whole family. Women, children, sick, didn’t matter to them. They were animals. I only survived because my brother grabbed me and fled. These beasts deserve no mercy, and need to be eradicated off the face of this world.”

Del came up to Sharai then and turned her around. Silently, he walked her back to the cold storage room while Nor and Dash set about their grim work.

“Children, Del?” she said, a tear in her eye.

“Nor’s right, Sharai,” he said in return. “Goblins are evil, and unredeemable. There are legends among my people, of a noble paladin who once ran across a goblin babe. Like you, he took pitty on it and tried to raise it. He taught it nobility, purity, piety and all the things it needed to be a noble and good creature. When it was old enough to fend for it self, a few short years later, it betrayed the paladin. It stabbed him in the leg and fled into the wildnerness.”

Sharai nodded. “We have similar stories in my culture. I just… children, Del. I can’t do it.”

“No one is expecting you too, Sharai,” he said.

A few moments later, Nor and Dash came back. Nor was quiet, and refused to look Sharai in the eye. They all tried to pretend that the incident never happened, and went about searching the three rooms. The third room had the remains of a cot and footlocker, and was most likely a servants quarters. Other than these three rooms, however, there seemed to be nothing of any value or interest down here.

“A dead end?” Del asked. “Maybe the book wasn’t down here when the castle went ka-blooie. Maybe it was upstairs, and was destroyed with the rest of the tower.”

“Can’t be,” Dash said. “If it was, we don’t get paid.”

“Maybe we will get paid,” Sharai said, staring at a patch of wall in the large storage room.

“What is it, Sharai?” Dash asked, his hopes rising.

Sharai walked towards the wall, straight towards a bookshelf that held empty glass bottles and wax sealed jars.

“Notice how this bookcase has only empty bottles on it?” she said.

“Yeah,” Del said. “So? This room is full of ‘em.”

“No,” she replied. “its full of bottles that have, or once had, stuff in them. These bottles were always empty.”

“She’s right,” Dash said, looking at the bookshelf with her.

“Okay,” Del said. “But again I ask, so?”

Without warning, Sharai shoved the bookcase will all her might. It rolled backwards, into the wall, and continued to move further into the wall until at last, it was revealed that there was a bookcase sized door in the wall. The bookcase had moved backwards enough for a single person to moved around it and enter the room beyond.

Sharai walked into the room without waiting for the others, causing Del and Nor to follow her as quickly as possible. Dash came last, still marveling at the craftsmanship of the secret doorway. The room beyond was amazing. It was a large circle, with fine carpets on the floor that kept the ground warm. Above, in a vaulted ceiling, was a small, magically lit chandelier, which came on as soon as Sharai entered the room. Dominating the room, in the center of the side opposite the secret door, was a large wooden desk. A fancy, overstuffed chair sat behind the desk, and a fine quill and ink set at on top of the desk. To the right of the door was wooden table, this one covered in runes and tubes and bottles. Finally, all across the walls of the room were bookcases. Each of them were loaded down with books, scrolls and loose parchment.

“It’s amazing,” Dash said.

“It’s warm,” Del said. “Very comfortable.”

“Of course it is,” Sharai said. “This would be the master of the tower’s private study. His most important books, his private experiments, his quiet meditation time, all would take place down here.”

She was in complete awe. She had only hear stories of her master’s private study. She had never seen it, but she imagined it looked very much like this. She scanned the book shelves, and the books and scrolls upon them. Many were manuscripts she had seen before, but a few were titles she had never hear of. One in particular caught her attention. It appeared to be a spell book of a great southern wizard, from the desert states. She reached up to grab it, but as soon as she opened the tome up, the pages inside started to crumble.

“Oh, no,” she cried. “It’s all starting to fall apart.”

“Not starting,” Nor said, “continuing. These documents look to be thousands of years old, no hundreds.”

Sharai looked down at her dwarven friend.

“Nor,” she started, but the dwarf halted her with a raised hand.

“No need to apologize, elf,” she said. “I am the one that should apologize, for letting my anger get away from me.”

The two women nodded at each other, then Sharai knelt down and hugged Nor, who hugged back. Finally, Del cleared his throat.

“I’m glad we’re all making up,” he said, “but we still have a book to find. Can you explain what you were talking about, Nor? Thousands of years old?”

“Indeed,” she said. “The man that gave us this map, he said this tower was destroyed one hundred years ago. When we got here, I started to doubt that. The architure here was dwarven, clearly, but of an age long passed, thousands of years ago. But, this is a wizard’s tower we’re talking about, so I chalked it up to the wizard having had the tower built that long ago. But, now, looking at these parchments, I realize that if this place was only one hundred years old, most of these books would still be readable.”

“So,” Del said, “You’re saying that the guy at the tavern lied to us? Why? What difference would when the tower was built have made to us?”

“Simple,” Sharai said, “he couldn’t have been an apprentice here if the tower were destroyed thousands of years ago.”

“I still don’t see what difference that makes,” Dash said. “We’re still here. We find the book he wants, return it to him, and get paid. He never said it had to be in one piece.”

Everyone else shrugged at the mystery, then in silent agreement went about searching the room for whatever books they could find that were still intact. After hours of looking, they eventually had a small pile. Four books, two scrolls and one piece of parchment. Dash had also found a small chest under the desk that contained a fancy wand Sharai immediately took, a hundred gold pieces, and two diamonds worth another hundred gold on their own. As luck would have it, one of the four books was the tower master’s spell book. It made no sense to anyone but Sharai.

“There’s some pretty powerful stuff in here,” she said. “It would take me years of study just to understand some of this, never mind have the power to make it work.”

“Too bad you won’t have the chance,” Dash said, taking the book from her and placing it in his satchel. “But, you can have all the time in the world you want to look over those other books we found.”

Sharai smiled. The other books were equally fascinating. Magical theory, a beginners spell book that held spells she didn’t yet know, and some history books about wizards that lived thousands of years ago. And the wand. It was magical, that much was obvious, but she couldn’t figure out what, exactly, it did. She would experiment with it on the way home to try and find out.

“Well,” Del said, “not a bad haul.”

“Indeed,” Dash said, helping the human stuff their treasure into a large bag. “It’s too bad we can’t take these rugs with us. I’m sure they’d be a pretty copper to someone back in town.”

Everyone laughed, and then headed back outside to return home.

****************************************************

The return trip was as uneventful as the trip to the tower, baring a run in with a merchant that seemed interested in buying the books they had discovered. Sharai refused, though, much to Dash’s consternation. They arrived at the town of Oak Hollow by mid morning, and headed straight to the Laughing Tankard for real, cooked food and to wash in the bathhouse above the tavern. They were hoping that they had time before the mysterious stranger appeared, but that was not to be the case. In the middle of breakfast, the hooded figure was at their table. It was as if he appeared out of nowhere.

“You have found the book?” he asked in a horse whisper.

“Indeed we did,” Dash said. He pulled out the large tome from his satchel and placed it on the table. It was black, and bound using a sewing method. On the cover was a strange rune that none of the party recognized. Dash had said he expected the book the be warm, or pulse, or have an eye on it, or something. Sharai had laughed, explaining that a wizard’s spell book never had those kinds of enchantments on it. More likely, the rune on the cover was some kind of ward, but the magical energy power it had died out.

The stranger reached out an old, gnarled hand from the depths of his robes and stroked the book, almost reverently, as if it were a baby.

“Excellent,” he said. “Excellent.”

“Yeah,” Del said, “it is excellent.” Then, he snatched the book away. “And it’s all yours. Once we get our gold.”

“Of course,” the stranger said in that same horse whisper. “your money.”

He dropped a sack onto the table, which made a jingling noise as it landed. Even Sharai couldn’t help but look at the bag, realizing what must be inside. Del grabbed the sack and pulled it towards his end of the table, making sure to keep it in sight the whole time.

“Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you,” he said, obviously not meaning it. “Enjoy your reading.”

The old man laughed, which sounded more like to pieces of parchment being rubbed together than real laughter.

“Oh, the book is not for me to keep,” he whispered.

“What?” Dash said. “You’re not expecting us to bring it to someone else, are you? ‘Cause that will cost you extra.”

“No, no,” the stranger said. “Nothing so pedestrian. No, to book is yours, my dear friends. All yours.”

Everyone looked at each other, sharing a look of confusion.

“Do you accept?” the old man said, concern apparent in his tone.

“Well, we…” Del started.

“Yes,” Sharai said, interrupting Del. She stared straight at the stranger’s hood, where she hoped his eyes were. She reached out her hand and placed it on the book. “Yes, we accept the book.”

“Excellent,” the old man said, and laughed again. “Then it has begun.”

And with that cryptic statement, he walked away, the party simply staring after him.

“Well, that was interesting,” Dash said, bringing everyone out of the trance they seemed to be in. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a bar tab that I need to attend to.”

With that, he grabbed a handful of gold out of the bag the stranger had left with them, and went to the bartender. Del and Nor then turned their attention to Sharai.

“Care to explain what that was all about?” Del asked.

“I’m not sure,” Sharai said. She looked down at the black book before her, stroking its cover. She now had the chance to study its secrets, and that excited her. “I think, though, we’ve just entered an adventure far larger than we initially expected.”

The End

The Adventuring Party, Part 1: Beginnings

Sharai reached her arm out and plunged her staff into the darkness. She spoke a word, and suddenly the top of her staff flared to life with a fizz and a blue spark. After the initial flash, the blue light settled down and illuminated the steep cave entrance before Sharai and her companions. She watched each of them as they passed her down the hallway.

First was Del, the human warrior. He was tall, nearly six and a half feet, with dirty blond hair that he kept neck length. His jaw was set in a serious expression on his clean shaven face that showed off just how young he was, even for a human; barley out of his teens. He was wearing a heavy chainmaile shirt, with leather padding underneath. On his left arm was a heavy steel shield, and he had his long sword drawn in his right hand, prepared for any trouble they might encounter. It was a family heirloom, a gift from his father, something of a famous warrior among humans, and a source of pride for Del. Sharai had learned that Del contained a wisdom and a leadership skill behind those bright blue eyes that defied his age. The companions had all defaulted to him as their leader long ago, and he was determined to not let them down.

After Del marched Nor Silverbeard, the dwarven priestess. She had a dour look on her face, but Sharai was unclear what that meant, because Nor always had a dour look on her face. Like Del, she also carried a shield, emblazoned with a anvil and three hammers, the symbol of the Three Brothers, the gods dwarves believed forged the world. In her other hand was a heavy hammer that looked every bit as deadly as Del’s sword. She wore heavy chainmaile as well, and had a helmet on her head that included a mask covering her eyes. Her red bear was kept neat and trimmed, close to the jaw line, but with two braids that came down to her belly, which indicated she was unmarried in dwarven culture. Sharai knew that Nor was a formidable warrior, as most clerics of the Three Brothers were, but also that the stout dwarf was a capable healer, and had her own brand of magic that made her an invaluable part of the party.

Sharai got in line next, holding her staff high, the blue flair lighting their way into the earth. Her lithe form moved gracefully into step behind Nor. Though not as muscular as Del or as bulky as Nor, she had a great power stored inside of her. Her blond hair was cut short, to keep it out of her eyes, but the result was also that it showed off her long, elven ears. She was the only member of the party to not wear armor, finding that it constricted her movements and slowed her down, two things that a woman in her profession could ill afford. Her free hand was tracing arcane sigils in the air, preparing for the moment she would need to cast a spell as quickly as possible. Though she was no longer an apprentice, she was still a journeyman wizard, who only knew a handful of spells, and tried not to show her nervousness to her comrades.

Behind Sharai was Dash, the gnome. He was only slightly over three feet (three foot three, to hear him tell it), but he could defiantly pull his weight in the party. His real name was Balderdash, but Del refused to refer to an adventuring companion by such a patently ridiculous name, and so he nicknamed the diminutive party member Dash, and it stuck. Dash was what one would call a professional thief. He would prefer to say he was an expert lockpick and trap specialist, but that still equaled thief to Sharai, although she knew that thief was something of a misnomer. The gnome never actually robbed from people. Well, at least not since joining up with the party. No, he was an adventurer, which meant his thieving was left to tombs and abandoned castles, or at the very least to creatures polite society preferred to think of as monsters. But she still held tightly to her purse when he was around. She turned to look at him briefly. Dash was walking behind the party, two daggers drawn, one in each hand, keeping an eye out for someone or something that might be sneaking up behind them. He had full head of hair, which was a bright green color, like spring leaves. He also had a shock of green facial hair, which he kept trimmed in a Van Dyke. His face was split in a permanent grin, as if he were in on some joke that the rest of the universe was unaware of. His dark green dyed leather armor made practically no noise at all when he walked, and his movements were like that of a cat on the hunt.

Sharai shook herself out of her musings and focused on the task at hand. They were here on a mission, to take down a dangerous beast that lived in this cave. After about twenty yards, the slope they were on stopped, and the cave eased out to a more flat hallway. However, they corridor also bent and twisted in different directions. Del motioned with his left hand, and a few seconds later, Dash was up front, nodding his head. The gnome then took the lead, carefully checking the ground and walls a head of them. Del must have thought a trap was near by, or perhaps just felt that they were close to the monster. Whatever, Sharai was glad for the extra precaution.

It proved to be a good idea when just a few moments later, Dash stopped the whole party, and began to look at a particular patch of dirt covered floor with serious intent. He then reached out with his dagger, and began to draw in the dirt. He was outlining a square, about three feet across on a side. Sharai realized at once what it was. A pit, probably with a fake covering of some kind that had dirt thrown across it to give it the appearance of a solid floor. Had Del still been in front, the heavily armored warrior would have fallen in, creating such a racket that any creatures deeper into the cave would surely know they were here.

Carefully, the four all crept around the edges of the pit. On the other side, they continued to make their way down the corridor. With the exception of the soft jangling of the chainmaile worn by Del and Nor, the four remained quiet. Their footsteps echoed off the walls, and Sharai wondered if the creature they hunted had ears as sharp as hers. If so, it had heard them by now for sure. She kept her staff held high, and the blue light flickered off the cavern walls and stalagmites, casting shadows everywhere. It had Sharai on edge, and she traced the patterns with her fingers faster and faster.

Then, she heard something that made her stop marching.

It was a series of noises, actually, a shuffling and snorting, like you would hear from a large, hoofed animal. Maybe a horse, or a bull. It was faint, not close, but it was clear to her sharp hearing. What was this beast they were sent to kill? She waved her staff to get the other’s attention. They all stopped at the sudden shift in lighting, and turned to look at her. Del had a look of frustration on his face. She pointed to her ears and then down the corridor. His look quickly changed, a smirk spreading across his face as he realized what she meant. He nodded, and every one re-gripped their weapons, ready for what was about to come.

Their pace as they moved through the cave picked up; the excitement growing as they neared their prey. By the time they reached the fork in the tunnels, everyone could hear the noises. A loud snort indicated that the right hand passage was the one to take, and the party headed down that direction. Del re-took the lead and Dash moved back to the rear, replacing his daggers with the small, gnome bow that was previously slung over his shoulders. Despite its minuscule size, Sharai had seen the fae weapon in battle before, and knew how deadly it truly was.

The cave they were following came to a large bend, around which could be heard the pacing of the creature. They were here. Del stopped everyone and turned to make sure everyone was ready. In turn, Nor and Dash nodded. Sharai hesitated, made a few quick symbols with her hand, and nodded. Before they headed in, however, the creature spoke.

“I smell you, adventurers,” it said. Its voice was deep, and gravely, like it had been gargling with rocks. “I can smell your fear. Did your king send you after me? I will send your heads back to him as a message! Come, face me!”

The then let out a roar that caused even Del to take a step back. Just what was it they were about to face? After but a moment’s hesitation, Del stood fully erect, raised his sword, and let out his battle cry, a ululation that had no real meaning to anyone but him. Everyone followed. The tunnel opened up into a large circular cavern. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, but like the rest of the cave, the floor was kept clear of stalagmites. Scattered about the room were torches, bolted to the wall in crude metal sconces, casting more shadow than light about the place. Off on one side of the room was a pile of straw and a dirty blanket, obviously a rough sleeping mat. Next to it was a foot locker, which Dash eyed quickly before returning to the battle at hand. The rest of the room was somewhat spartan, though there were decorations of a sort. Skulls, of all different races, were hanging from the walls and stalactites. Trophies, Sharai realized, of past kills.

Then she saw the creature itself. It was huge, approximately 8 feet tall, and covered in rock hard muscle and black fur. Its feet were those of a massive bull, black hoofs scraping at the floor in anticipation, a small cow-like tail twitching behind it. Its head was that of a bull as well, two large, curved horns protruding from its head. Sharai noticed that they were sharp, and cold probably pierce a person with no problem. In its hands was a massive axe, like an exaggerated lumberjack axe. Dried blood could be seen on the blade’s very sharp edge. A minotaur, she thought. Oh, Gods, a minotaur! We’re dead, we can’t take on a minotaur!

Before she could say anything, though, Del charged right at the beast. Del realized a long time ago that while he was very good at distracting enemies from the rest of the party, getting them to focus on him and his deadly sword while his allies maneuvered into better positions, or cast spells. It was obvious that this was his plan this time, too.

“Come on, minotaur,” he cried as he charged, “let’s see who takes who’s head first!”

The creature threw its head back, and a strange, gurgling sound came from its throat. Was it choking? No, Sharai realized, it’s laughing!

“Indeed, little one,” it said to Del as it easily blocked his sword swing with it’s axe. “Let us see, indeed.”

And with that, it swung the great axe in a wide arc. The creature was surprisingly quick for something so bulky and large. Del barely had time to raise his shield. Sharai watched as the massive weapons slammed into the circular piece of steel strapped to Del’s arm, and winced as the shield, arm and body of her companion were forced back, three full steps, from the blow. She could tell that hurt Del, but he bravely stood his ground as best he could.

And in doing so, gave Nor all the time she needed to position herself behind the Minotaur. She smashed down hard with her hammer, striking the minotaur on the back of his reversed legs. The creature cried out in pain, a primal sound that reverberated across the chamber, and dropped down on one knee. Del took the opportunity caused by the blow and stepped close to the monster, penetrating its right shoulder with his blade, and causing more cries from the creature. Sharai and Dash also took their opportunity to strike. Sharai let loose with a bolt of pure magical energy, a pulsing green ball that flew across the chamber and struck home on the creatures chest. Dash let loose with his arrow, which followed Sharai’s bolt, and buried itself in the creatures other shoulder.

Everything seemed to be going in the teams favor. All the training they had been doing was paying off. At least, that’s what Sharai thought before the minotaur struck back. Del and Nor were readying for a simultaneous strike when, with blinding speed, the monster swung it’s great axe in a wide circle, first striking Del hard in the chest. The blow sent the warrior flying across the room, to land hard against a hanging stalactite, and then slump to the floor below, unconscious. The swing continued around, the creature twisting its torso around, and hit Nor in her head. Though the tough dwarf did not fall, she did move back a step or two, and was obviously dazed.

Standing, the monster completed its turn to face the dwarf. Before it could do any further damage, Sharai let loose with a spell, one of her more powerful ones. She traced the symbols in the air and muttered a few words of power. She pointed her staff dramatically at the monster and spoke the final word loudly, gaining the creatures attention for a moment. As it looked at her, the air around it grew cold, specifically around its feet. Looking down, the minotaur watched as, in mere seconds, ice formed in a square around its hoofs. With no more dirt floor to grip, he started to slip. Only his great strength kept him standing upright, but Nor was able to take advantage of the momentarily distracted beast, and slammed into it with her hammer once more. The blow combined with the ice and caused the creature to fall flat on its back.

A bellow of anger rose from the creatures throat. It kicked out with one of it’s powerful feet, striking Nor in the stomach and sending the otherwise sturdy dwarf stumbling backwards, though she still refused to fall down. Not bothering to get up on the slippery ice, the creature swung it’s axe once more, this time one handed, and struck hard into Nor’s shield. The blade penetrated and struck the dwarf’s arm. Sharai could see blood seep through the crack in the metal, but the dwarf only bit her lip, not letting out a cry of pain. The minotaur pulled his axe back, and Nor’s arm fell useless to her side, the shield dropping to the ground. It was obvious at this point that she was out of the fight.

Dash, meanwhile, let loose arrow after arrow, most of which hit the creature on its back and shoulders, but none of them seemed to penetrate through the monster’s anger. Deciding that enough was enough, he dropped his bow and drew his two daggers, charging forward.

“Cover me,” he said, not looking at Sharai as he ran straight towards death itself.

Sharai didn’t hesitate, but let loose two magic bolts in quick succession, allowing the magic of her staff to enhance the power of the bolts. They struck true, but seemed to have about as much affect as the arrows. Dash ran straight up to the beast, who was climbing its way out of the ice back to the dirt. He did something completely foolhardy then, and leaped on the minotaur’s back. The creature stood up just as Dash started to jab downwards with both blades, penetrating through the tough skin of his shoulders and into the muscle benieth.

Though obviously in pain, bleeding from several small wounds, the creature didn’t seem to be slowed in the least. He reached up behind him with one arm, grabbed the gnome, and slammed him hard into the floor. Sharai heard a sickening thud as Dash’s head connected with a rock, and he passed out. Breathing heavy, the minotaur looked up and straight at her. A sneer crossed its lips, and it started marching across the room. Sharai was paralyzed in fear. She was the only party member left standing, but her only remaining spells would not be enough to defeat the creature. She couldn’t do this, and as a result, she was about to die.

That’s when she hear another voice, a strong male voice.

“Okay, that’s enough,” it said, and the minotaur paused it’s relentless march and stopped. It turned its head to view the speaker and Sharai followed its gaze.

At the opposite side of the cave, from an entrance that she didn’t remember seeing before, stood an old human man. He was about the same height as her, a little over five feet, with a shock of bright white hair on his head. His face was covered in a short cropped white beard, which could not cover the scars that indicated years of battle. His eyes were hard, a dark gray color, like steel, and they were narrowed, glaring about the room. He wore comfortable robes that were not religious in any way, but the sword at his hip and the stance he held indicated that he was no wizard, either. He looked around the room, and shook his head at the fallen.

“Tisk, what a mess,” he said, clicking his toung across the top of his mouth, a particularly human mannerism that Sharai never got used to, even though she had heard it hundreds of times before. “Barr, thanks for participating. You’re free to go home, now.”

The minotaur suddenly took a far more relaxed stance, and nodded its head. “Until next time, old friend,” it rumbled in its deep voice that, even at this softer volume, still sounded like thunder. Then it marched out the newly arrived passage in the cave. Where did that come from, anyway? Illusion, maybe?

“Sharai,” the old human said, turning his attention to her. “Would you help me revive your teammates, here?”

He opened up his cloak, and pulled out several small potions, hold out two for her to take. She nodded.

“Yes, Master Landau,” she said, and moved to take the potions from the man that had been her mentor for the past two years. The two of them administered the potions to Sharai’s fallen party members, and the three were quickly revived.

“Master Landau?” Del said, looking his teacher in the eye with a somewhat groggy look on his face. “Damn, does this mean we failed?”

Landau laughed. “To defeat the minotaur? Yes, of course.”

“Of course?” Del said, obviously confused. “This was to be our final exam, before we went out into the world to make our fortunes. Why is it ‘of course’ that we failed?”

“Calm down, Del,” the old man said in a gentle, fatherly tone. “You were never meant to defeat Barr. The test was more about how you would handle yourselves in a no win situation.”

“I knew there was more to this than simply the minotaur,” Sharai said.

“What do you mean?” Del asked.

“Well,” Sharai explained, “the simple truth is, we’re just not powerful enough to take down a minotaur. Not on our own, at any rate. This had to be a test of something other than our combat prowess.”

“Very good, Sharai,” Landau said, “But not entirely correct. I wasn’t testing your abilities in combat. I know those already. What I was testing, however, was your teamwork.”

“Yeah?” Del asked. “So, how’d we do?”

Landau took a deep breath, as if contemplating the answer. He looked from Del to Sharai and then over to Nor and Dash.

“You did,” he paused for dramatic effect, which caused Dash to roll his eyes. “Excellent!”

“We did?” Nor asked. “But, we lost.”

“Yes,” Landau said, “but you used teamwork to try and overcome. You each used your strengths to work with and cover your teammates. Del, you distracted the beast while Nor took position behind it. Sharai used her ice spell to help Nor drop Barr on his butt. And later, Sharai helped Dash by covering him with her magic bolts. You even used teamwork getting through the tunnels. Dash found that trap, and Sharai’s hearing let you know to be ready for the monster.”

“So, we passed?” Nor asked, still looking confused.

“Ha,” Landau laughed, “Yes, Nor. You passed! That means you have learned all I can teach you. You are ready to go out into the world and become world famous adventurers.”

“All right!” Del said. “I knew it! Come on guys, let’s go get packed! Tomorrow, we go out into the world and adventure!”

Sharai shook her head. She just couldn’t believe she was really ready. Still, Landau was an experienced adventurer himself, and had trained several adventurers after his retirement. If he said they were ready, she had to believe him. He knew what he was talking about. She just didn’t feel ready.


The next morning, the four friends were all set to go. They had their backpacks with spare clothes, equipment and, most importantly, bedrolls and tents for camping during their travels. Landau told them that there was a small town near the borders of civilized lands to the north, called Oak Hollow. If anyplace would lead them to adventure, it would lie there.

So, they headed north. It took them several days to get there, though the journey itself was uneventful, much to Del’s chagrin. He was hoping for a random monster attack, or at least bandits. But the followed a well-used merchant’s road, and bandits tended to avoid it due simply to the large amount of traffic it saw.

Oak Hollow itself was pretty much what Sharai imagined from such a name. It was built by the edge of a forest of oak trees and featured a large lumber industry, as well as the outlying farms. It was a walled town, and featured mostly small, one story buildings. On top of the hill the town was built on stood a small castle, home of the knight that ruled over this land. The town acted as a way stop for merchant caravans on their way to other northern cities, and as such had a larger than normal number of taverns and inns.

It was also the last truly civilized stop for miles before entering what most called the Wild Lands. Once upon a time, the Wild Lands were part of some unknown empire, as evidenced by the numerous ruins that were spread about. But today, it was filled with monsters and evil races like goblins. There were even legends of armies of undead, zombies and skeletons, but no one had seen these to prove if they were true.

As a result of this, the town also played host to several groups of adventurers, those members of society that wished to gain gold and fame through danger and adventure. They often used Oak Hollow as a staging ground for expeditions into the ruins of the Wild Lands. Those that returned came back with wealth beyond their wildest dreams.

This was exactly what Del was hoping to do, and most of the rest of the party was with him. Sharai wasn’t so much interested in the treasure as she was any ancient magic they might find along the way. The old empires had powers unknown by current wizards, and so the chance to learn from the ancients drew her to follow her friends into the Wild Lands.


They came up to the town gates, where a bored looking guard with a long pole arm in his hand stood.

“State your name and business,” he said, not really looking at them.

“We are Del, Nor, Sharai and Balderdash,” Del said, pointing to everyone in turn. “We’re adventurers, come to find our fame and fortune.”

“Adventurers, eh?” the guard said, “Paperwork?”

Del pulled out a scroll from his belt pouch. It was an official paper recognizing the group as members of the Adventurer’s Guild, and gave them permission to carry around their weapons legally. The guard looked it over, nodded, and handed it back to them.

“Right then,” the guard said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. “You’ll be wanting the Laughing Tankard. It’s just down the main road a bit, you can’t miss it.”

“The Laughing Tankard?” Del asked.

“Aye,” the guard said, bored again. “It’s where most adventurers goes. Lots of rumors there, as well as caravan masters looking for sell swords. Great place to find work, eh?”

“Right,” Del said, nodding. He waved everyone on, and they all headed into town.

The guard was right; it didn’t take much to find the tavern. It had a sign hanging over its door depicting a tankard, complete with foamy head, with a large, laughing mouth on it. They entered. The place was not nearly as busy as Sharai expected. Though the common’s room wasn’t empty, it only had a few patrons in it, mostly small groups like theirs sitting in tables going over maps. There were a few patrons at the bar that resembled local farmers, probably regulars that enjoyed hearing the tales of the adventurers that frequented the place. Behind the bard was a small, thin man, with a scraggly beard that was larger than his face. If it wasn’t for the fact that he wasn’t quite that short, Sharai might have thought he was a dwarf.

“Take a seat,” the man said, “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

The four took seats at a round table near the fireplace, though no fire currently burned. True to his word, a few moments later, the bartender arrived at their table.

“Adventurers, yes?” he asked, and all four of them nodded. “I recognize your type. New to the business, too, if I ain’t mistaken.” Again, all four of them nodded, though this time they all looked at each other before doing so.

“Don’t worry,” the bartender said. “I only know because I used to be one meself. Well, that and because I run this place. Names Marc, owner and proprietor of this fine establishment. So, besides drinks, what is it you be looking for?”

“Well,” Del said, settling into his role of group spokesman. “We’re hoping to get into the Wild Lands and find some ancient ruin we can loot.”

“Honest,” Marc said, “I likes that. I take it, though, that you don’t have the money to pay for such an expedition?”

“Pay? What would we need to do to prepare beyond what we already have?” Del asked. He was honestly confused.

“Well, I’m only guessing mind you, but I don’t believe that you’ve got a week or two of rations. And believe you me, that’s about how far you’ll need to go to avoid all the well traveled and well looted ruins nearer to the town. Horses probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. And I’m guessing that you can’t afford any of that.”

The four friends looked at each other, a silent conversation on weather or not it was okay to trust this man before them. Finally, Nor gave a subtle nod of her head, and Del returned his attention to the bartender.

“Frankly, no,” Del said.

“Excellent!” The bartender said, “then I have a job for you!”


“Rats?” Balderdash was saying as the four descended the tavern’s stairs. “He wants us to kill rats? In the tavern basement? This is really undignified for a group of adventurers, don’t you think?”

“Come on, Dash,” Del said, not looking back at the gnome. They had been having this argument for the past hour or so. “I know it’s not glamorous. It’s nothing I want sung in a song about me. But, still… he’s offering us one hundred gold to do this. One hundred! It’s easy money that we can’t afford to ignore.”

Dash grumbled, but stopped arguing with the human. One hundred gold was a lot of money. More, Sharai thought, than killing a few rats was worth. Still, she was with Del completely on this one. They did need the money, and this was difficult to turn down.

“Okay, everyone, spread out and keep your eyes open,” Del said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He drew his sword, but Sharai noticed that he did not ready his shield. “Marc seemed to think they hung out mostly by the grain sacks, I’ll check there.”

They each took a different corner of the large cellar. It was appeared to be at least as large as the whole tavern above, and was littered with crates, sacks and barrels of foods, ales and wines. Sharai held her staff at the ready and searched her corner very carefully with her eyes. It contained boxes that smelled like cheese, something she considered a tempting target for rats. It didn’t take long for her to spot something moving out of the corner of her eye.

She turned to look, but before she could poke it with her staff, something large jumped out at her. It was about the size of a small dog, and was all snout and teeth. Sharai screamed and backed off, swinging her staff wildly. Everyone turned to rush towards her side. The four lined up next to each other, and then got a good look at the creature.

“That’s not a rat,” Dash was saying.

But it was. It had the long snout, ringed tail and ears of a rat. It was also about three feet long, no counting the tail, and had a very unhappy look in its eyes. Del only hesitated that in that initial moment, then stepped forward, shield raised, and stabbed the rat. It was a solid blow that quickly killed the vermin.

“That was a big rat,” he said. Then they heard more noises coming from behind the cheese.

Nor moved up and shoved the cheese aside, revealing a large hole in the wall. Rushing out of the hole was three more large rats, chittering in anger at being disturbed. The four friend sprang into action quickly.

Del once again stabbed at the nearest rat, getting in a blow, but not a fatal one. Sharai followed up with a blast of her magic bolt, felling the creature. Dash had better luck, ducking under the charging rat and gutting it as it sailed overhead. Nor wasn’t quite as quick, and the rat got in a bite. Thankfully, it hit her shoulder on the chainmaile, and didn’t break skin. Nor returned the attack, smashing the rat in the head with her hammer. The battle was over in a matter of seconds, and the four looked at each other in shock.

“Man,” Dash said, “when he said he had a rat problem, he wasn’t kidding. No wonder he wanted adventurers to help out.”

Del looked at the hole in the wall. It seemed to go down at a pretty sharp angle, into some tunnels below the tavern. He got a grim look on his face.

“They came from here,” he said, pointing to the hole. “Think there’s more?”

Sharai came up and listened, straining her ears to hear anything down the tunnels. “I don’t hear anything. But, if they’re like any other kind of rat, there most likely are more, in a warren or den down there. Hundreds is likely.”

“Hundreds?” Del said, a look of horror on his face. “Hundreds,” he said again, this time more thoughtfully.

“Uh oh,” Dash said, winking at Nor. “I know that look. He’s got an idea.”


A few hours later, they were pushing their way into the hole and to the tunnels beyond. Dash was shaking his head.

“I can’t believe you managed to convince him to pay us another three hundred gold to clear out this warren,” he said.

Del laughed, leading the way down the tunnel. “Well, once we showed him the four dead ones, and that there might be hundreds more below, it was easy. I think one hundred gold each is a fair price, don’t you?”

Everyone laughed.

“Maybe there is something about this adventure to sing a song about,” Sharai said. “The story of Del, the Rat Slayer and Tavern Swindler.”

The End